Glueless envelope blank and pad thereof

ABSTRACT

A glueless envelope blank comprises a main body panel with side flaps along two opposite edges and two subsidiary panels along two other opposite edges; one of the subsidiary panels has slits therein for co-operation with mechanical interlocking means on another panel joined to one of the subsidiary panels. A pad of such envelope blanks can be formed by providing each blank with a readily separable attachment panel, the attachment panels of a pad of the blanks being fastened to one another and to a backing and facing sheet.

United States Patent 1191 Venema I GLUELESS ENVELOPE BLANK AND PADTHEREOF [76] Inventor: Frank Venema, 479 Graycourt Drive, Ancaster,Ontario, Canada a [22] Filed: Apr. 6, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 131,751

52 Us. (:1 206/57 R, 229/84 229/875 51 Int. (:1 865d 82/08, B65d 27/22[58] Field of Search 220/84, 87.5, 75; 206/57 R [56] References CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS 1,042,488 10/1912 Shafferm, 229/84 x 2,803,3388/1957 15111011 206/57 R 1,690,883 11/1928 Ziegler 220/87 A X 461,00010/1891 Thacher.. 229/84 1,453,756 5/1923 Dewey 229/875 Sept. 18, 19732,520,449 8/1950 Allen 229/71 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 67,5942/1914 Switzerland 229/875 Primary Examiner-Leonard SummerAttorney-Church & Rogers [57] ABSTRACT A glueless envelope blankcomprises a main body panel with side flaps along two opposite edges andtwo subsidiary panels along two other opposite edges; one of thesubsidiary panels has slits therein for co-operation with mechanicalinterlocking means on another panel joined to one of the subsidiarypanels. A pad of such envelope blanks can be formed by providing eachblank'with a readily separable attachment panel, the attachment panelsof a pad of the blanks being fastened to one another and to a backingand facing sheet.

5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEH SEP I 81973 1o- FIGZ 25 25 J -TLPATENT AGENTS INVENTOR. FRANK VENEMA GLUELESS ENVELOPE BLANK AND PADTHEREOF FIELD OF THE INVENTION REVIEW OF THE PRIOR ART Many differentforms of envelope blank have been proposed hitherto to perform variousspecific purposes. An early example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Ser. No.649,768, issued th May, 1900 to T.M. Sherriff having the form of anenvelope with two closure flaps that are alternatively uppermost so thatit can be used for two separate mailings; the resultant envelope doesnot provide positive retention of the contents (e.g. for heavy objectssuch as coins), and it is only intended to enclose written materials.U.S. Pat. Ser. No. 2,520,449, issued 29th Aug. 1950 to A. F. Allen showsa form of transparent enclosure envelope which is folded from a blank;the various side flaps of the blank are secured to the body panels bycement, and there is no provision for its functioning as a gluelessenvelope. U.S. Pat. Ser. No. 3,482,765, issued 9th Dec. 1969 andassigned to Postal Church Inc., shows various forms of contributionenvelope blanks wherein the contents can be seen through aperturesprovided therein.

There are special problems involved in the provision of church envelopesintended for periodic contributions, in that they should be made asinexpensively as possible, and yet be able to retain coins safely.Another problem arises in the provision of a return envelope in an itemsuch as a mailing catalogue; advantageously, it should be possible toincorporate such an envelope easily into the-catalogue during itsassembly and binding. A glueless envelope will avoidthe problem of theblank adhering to an adjacent page. The general consumer would alsoappreciate an inexpensive envelope that could be stored in pad form.

DEFINITION OF THE INVENTION It is an-object of the presentinvention toprovide a glueless envelope blank that can be folded to provide a secureenvelope.

It is another object of the invention to provide a glueless envelope padblank'such that a plurality thereof can readily be formed into a padthereof.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a gluelessenvelope blank comprising a main body panel forming one side of theresultant envelope and having joined thereto two oppositely-extendingsubsidiary body panels each foldable about a respective fold junction tobe parallelto the main body panel, the main body panel also havingjoined thereto tow oppositely-extending side flaps foldable about arespective fold junction to be parallel to the main body panel so as toover-lay the respective edges ofa first-folded subsidiary panel and tobe over-laid by the second-folded subsidiary panel, the subsidiary bodypanel constituting the said second-folded subsidiary panel having slitsor slots therein and having joined thereto extending oppositely from themain panel a locking panel having two oppositely-extending side flapsfoldable about respective fold junctions to embrace the respective edgesof the body panels and the junctions of the side flaps with the mainbody panel and shaped to mechanically interlock in respective slits orslots inthe said second-folded subsidiary panel to oppose sidewaysopening movement of the side flaps as well as holding the panels inclosed relationship.

An envelope pad blank may comprise an attachment panel joined to theenvelope blank along a readily separable junction for detachment oftheen velope-forming blank from the attachment panel. A plurality ofsuch envelope pad blanks provided with attachment panels can be gatheredinto a pad and secured e.g. by staples, to suitable backing and facingsheets.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERREDEMBODIMENTS A glueless envelope blank in accordance with the inventioncomprises a main body panel 10 of rectangular shape and having joinedthereto along its two shorter edges, by being integral therewith, twooppositelyextending side flaps 11 and 12, the respective junctions l3and14 between the main panel and the side flaps being scored for ease ofsubsequent folding. Each of the side flaps is somewhat tapered so thatitdecreases in length as it extends away from its junction with the mainbody panel. The main body panel also has joined thereto along its twolonger edges, by being integral therewith, two oppositely-extendingfirst and second subsidiary body panels 15 and 16, each havingrespective scored junctions 17 and .18 with the main panel edges. Thesubsidiary panel 16 is of slightly tapered form, decreasing in widthaway from its junction 18. The subsidiary panel 15 has joined! thereto,and extending oppositely from the main panel, a locking panel 19foldable relatively to the panel 15 about a junction 20, the lockingpanel in turn having joined thereto tow oppositely-extending side flaps21 and 22 foldable about respective scored fold junctions 23 and 24.

The panel 15 is provided adjacent its respective side edges with twoparallel longitudinal slits 25, which cooperate-with the side flaps 21and 22 to constitute me chanical interlocking means for holding theenvelope securely closed. Thus, in this particular embodiment the outeredge portions of the flaps 21. and 22 are of ment panel is joined to theenvelope blank by being integral with the subsidiary body panel 16,being con nected thereto along a readily-separable junction 27, such asa perforated tear line, to permit ready detachment of theenvelope-forming blank from its attachment panel. plurality of suchenvelope pad blanks are gathered into a pad provided with a stiffrectangular backing sheet 28 (e.g. of cardboard) of size and shapecorresponding to that of the envelope pad blanks. The pad is alsoprovided with a face sheet 29, which is of the same size as the backingsheet, but will generally be of thinner material. The pad of envelopeblanks is thus enclosed between the facing and backing sheets with itsedges protected.

It is a particular advantage of envelope blanks of the present inventionthat a pad thereof may be produced on conventional printing,cutting/scoring and padding machines such as are found in an averagewellequipped printing shop, and do not require special envelope-makingmachines. For example, the envelope blanks are cut from rectangularsheets, the slits 25 being formed simultaneously therein. The variousscore lines l3, 14, 17, 18, 20, 23 and 24 may be formed simultaneously,or at some other station of the machine. The sheets may be preprintedwith information required thereon, depending upon their particularapplication, such as a return address, a Church name, an account number,a date for payment, etc. A gathered'pad of the envelope pad blanks isapplied to a stiff cardboard backing sheet 28, the cover sheet 29 isapplied thereover, and the whole is fastened together by a glue line, oran edge tape, or staples or some other convenient means. The cover sheetconveniently is printed with instructions for folding the envelopes intothe required from and spaces for desired information, such as a diaryfor recording offerings in the case of a church envelope. 7

It is found that by this use of conventional printing and paddingmachines for the production of these envelope blanks, they can be madevery inexpensively and, for example, supplied to Churches in pad form atlower cost than has been possible hitherto for conventional types ofoffering envelopes. Moreover it is possible to incorporate envelopesinto printed matter such as catalogues much more inexpensively than hasbeen possible hitherto.

In other embodiments of the invention the attachment panel may, forexample, be connected to the'freewhere the connection into the volumemust bealong the longer edge. Any number of such blankscan be includedin the bound volume and, in the absence of any glue, there is absolutelyno'possibility'that the envelope blanks will stick to one another, or tothe adjacent pages, despite the conditions volumes are stored.

in forming an envelope from an envelope pad blank in accordance with theinvention, the envelope blank is separated from the attachment panel bycareful tearing and then has the appearance illustrated by FIG. 2. Theitems to be enclosed within the envelope are laid on the main bodypanell0 and the subsidiary panel 16, comprising a first-folded subsidiarypanel, is folded about the junction 18 until his parallel with andoverlies the main panel 10. The two side flaps 11 and 12 are now foldedinwards about their junctions until they are also parallel to the mainpanel and overlie and embrace the subsidiary panel 16; the blank now hasthe appearance shown in FIG. 3. The subsidiary panel 15 comprises thesecond-folded subsidiary panel and is now folded parallel to the mainpanel 10; thereafter the under which the pads orlocking panel 19 isfolded about its junction 20 until it also is parallel to the main panel10. The panel 15 now overlies the panel 16 and the side flaps 11 and 12are interposed between them. The locking flaps 21 and 22 are theninserted in their respective slits 25. Since the side flaps l1 and 12are over-laid by the locking flaps, there is no possibility that theywill break out from the envelope, and the contents spilling, unless theforce applied thereto is sufficient to mechanically tear the lockingflaps from the slits 25. The paper from which the blank is formed willof course be made sufficiently. strong in the case of a coin envelope toensure that this does not happen except under exceptional circumstances.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A glueless envelope blank comprising a main body panel forming oneside of the resultant envelope and having joined thereto twooppositely-extending subsidiary body panels each foldable about arespective fold junction to be parallel to the main panel, the main bodypanel also having joined thereto .two oppositelyextending side flapsfoldable about respective fold junctions to be parallel to the main bodypanel so as to overlie the respective edges of a first-folded subsidiarypanel and to be over-laid by the second-folded subsidiary panel, thesubsidiary body panel constituting the second-folded subsidiary panelhaving slits or slots therein and having joined thereto extendingoppositely from-the main panel a locking panel having twooppositely-extending side flaps foldable about respective fold junctionsto embrace the respective edges of the body panels" and thejunctions ofthe side flaps with the main body panel and shaped to mechanicallyinterlock in respective slits or slots in the said second-foldedsubsidiary panel to oppose sideways opening movement of the side flapsas well as holding the panels in-closedrelationship.

2. The invention-as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said subsidiary bodypanels are of. shorter width parallel to their fold junctions with themain panel than the main and locking panels.

3. The invention as claimed in claim 1, wherein the subsidiary panelconstituting the first-folded such panel is tapered in width from itsfold junction with the main panel to its opposite edge. I

I 4. The invention as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said slits orslots in the second-folded subsidiary panel extend parallel to the sidesthereof and the said-side flaps of the locking panel have their outeredge portions of greater length than the slits, each saidouteredgeportions being connected to the remainder of the respective sideflapby'a portion of length' just shorter than the length of the slits orslots.

5. The invention as claimed in claim 1, wherein the envelope blankincludes an attachment panel joined thereto along a separable junctionto. constitute therewith an envelope pad blank, the said separablejunction permitting detachment of the envelope blank from the saidattachment panels. t 0 I

1. A glueless envelope blank comprising a main body pAnel forming oneside of the resultant envelope and having joined thereto twooppositely-extending subsidiary body panels each foldable about arespective fold junction to be parallel to the main panel, the main bodypanel also having joined thereto two oppositely-extending side flapsfoldable about respective fold junctions to be parallel to the main bodypanel so as to overlie the respective edges of a first-folded subsidiarypanel and to be over-laid by the second-folded subsidiary panel, thesubsidiary body panel constituting the second-folded subsidiary panelhaving slits or slots therein and having joined thereto extendingoppositely from the main panel a locking panel having twooppositely-extending side flaps foldable about respective fold junctionsto embrace the respective edges of the body panels and the junctions ofthe side flaps with the main body panel and shaped to mechanicallyinterlock in respective slits or slots in the said second-foldedsubsidiary panel to oppose sideways opening movement of the side flapsas well as holding the panels in closed relationship.
 2. The inventionas claimed in claim 1, wherein the said subsidiary body panels are ofshorter width parallel to their fold junctions with the main panel thanthe main and locking panels.
 3. The invention as claimed in claim 1,wherein the subsidiary panel constituting the first-folded such panel istapered in width from its fold junction with the main panel to itsopposite edge.
 4. The invention as claimed in claim 1, wherein the saidslits or slots in the second-folded subsidiary panel extend parallel tothe sides thereof and the said side flaps of the locking panel havetheir outer edge portions of greater length than the slits, each saidouter edge portions being connected to the remainder of the respectiveside flap by a portion of length just shorter than the length of theslits or slots.
 5. The invention as claimed in claim 1, wherein theenvelope blank includes an attachment panel joined thereto along aseparable junction to constitute therewith an envelope pad blank, thesaid separable junction permitting detachment of the envelope blank fromthe attachment panel, and comprising a plurality of such envelope blanksdisposed in register with one another, a face sheet of sizecorresponding to the outer dimensions of said envelope blanks, a stiffbacking sheet of size corresponding to the outer dimension of saidenvelope blanks, and means fastening together the attachment panels ofthe said plurality of envelope blanks and fastening the face sheet andthe backing sheet to the said attachment panels.